RAFAEL BENITEZ has challenged Neil Mellor to make sure his first Premiership goal is not his last.

RAFAEL BENITEZ has challenged Neil Mellor to make sure his first Premiership goal is not his last.

It is doubtful whether the 22-year-old will ever better the last-minute goal he scored to seal yesterday's 2-1 win over Arsenal - for quality or importance - but his manager will not let the youngster rest on his laurels.

"All the goals were very good goals," said Benitez (left) after the game at Anfield, "and, for me, the best was the last one.

"The question now is: Will he score more goals?

"It's important for him, it's important for the club, the supporters and the squad."

Benitez praised Mellor's performance as a lone striker, and was happy with the overall shape of the side.

"He played against two very good central defenders but we talked about supporting him with Harry (Kewell), (Steven) Gerrard and (Florent) Sinama (Pongolle)," he said. "They allowed us to control the midfield and gave Gerrard freedom between the lines.

"We wanted to control the game and make them go back because they have very, very good players so we tried to press them and keep the defensive line high."

Gerrard impressed in an unfamiliar role behind Mellor, creating Liverpool's 41st-minute opener for Xabi Alonso, but Benitez claimed he had picked his skipper there out of necessity.

"We have a big problem," he admitted. "We have very good central midfielders and we need to find a place for each one. But he plays well in all positions."

Benitez felt the win, over a side which looked a class apart just a month ago, could be of huge importance to his side's season.

"After you win against a very good team it's very important for the confidence," he pointed out. "We don't have a lot of players (available) now but the other players are working very hard."

And no-one at Anfield can be accused of setting their sights too low this season.

Captain Gerrard said of his team's target for the season: "We want the top four but we are aiming higher than that."

And when asked if that was a realistic goal, his manager

said: "Before the game I was sure (it was). After the game - the same.

"I was sure after the victory that at the end of the season we can be in the top four."

The captain was happy with his side's performance - and delighted with the way Mellor capped it off.

"We're very pleased with the first-half performance," Gerrard said. "The game-plan was to stop them playing and press them back.

"But Arsenal came back into it. We expected that, they are a fantastic team but we never gave up.

"Neil will be dreaming about that goal for years. He deserved it. He worked hard."

Mellor did not try to hide his pleasure, either.

"The ball just dropped and I hit it, in front of the Kop in the last minute, against one of the top sides in Europe," he said.

"The lads have been supportive of me and I came up with the goods in the last minute, which was nice."

But opposing manager Arsene Wenger was less impressed with the youngster's long-distance strike.

"I feel the first goal of Liverpool was well played and our goal was well played - the second goal? I don't believe that it was a brilliant goal because it was more down to mistakes than the Liverpool team.

"It was a simple goal - when a straight kick from the goalkeeper ends in your net in the last seconds of the game it's very difficult to take."

But he did admit: "Liverpool played well today. They were focused, disciplined, determined. They played a very direct game but a very efficient one and they defended very well.